There was a marked improvement in Hong Kong's poverty situation in 2013, with the poverty rate dropping to a record-low.
Chairing the Commission on Poverty’s 15th meeting today, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam said, after recurrent cash policy interventions, Hong Kong’s poor population dropped from 1.02 million in 2012 to 970,000 last year.
The poverty rate dropped from 15.2% to 14.5%.
Taking into account the non-cash transfer value of public housing, the overall poverty rate was further reduced to 9.8%, and the poor population dropped to 660,000, showing the effectiveness of public housing in reducing poverty.
There was also a drastic decrease of 14.4 percentage points in the poverty rate among elderly people aged 65 or above, down from 44.9% to 30.5%, after the recurrent cash policy interventions including the Old Age Living Allowance.
Analysis also showed the means-tested policies had a more visible impact on poverty alleviation than non-means-tested schemes, illustrating that more targeted initiatives yield more significant results, and utilise public resources more effectively.
Among the 380,000 households living below the poverty line after recurrent cash benefits, there are 140,800 working households involving 469,700 people.
Their situation deserves priority attention, Mrs Lam said, adding she hopes the Legislative Council can approve funding for the Low-income Working Family Allowance Scheme as soon as possible so families in need can benefit from it.
Also attending the meeting, Chief Executive CY Leung and other senior officials discussed with participants the commission's work progress and way forward.
